| abstract | - The sun stood high above the beach as Walter made his way down calling out to the allies he got separated from. "Ben! Ben! Adam! Anna!" Walter yelled. Adam face lay in the sand as he began to wake with groans. "Ah...oh...uh" Adam groaned as Walter approached. "Are you alright?" Walter asked. "Yes, Ben's not here? Where's Anna?" Adam said. "No, looks like we didn't all make it, I only hope...well, maybe they washed up somewhere else, I'm sure that's it" Walter said as he spotted Anna walking down the beach with Xander. "Walter! Oh you guys are okay! Thank goodness!" Anna said. "Anyway, the only way forward seems to be through a rather ominous cave" Walter said as they all walked down the beach and into the cave. "I hope Ben okay" Anna said as their voice began to echo. "Before we go any further, I'd like to say one thing" Walter said. "What is it?" Anna asked. "BALLS!" Walter yelled as his voiced echoed. "Really Walter?" Anna said as they heard Xander barking. "Hello, sounds like the dog's found something, you never know, it might be a luxury inn" Walter said. "Oh how I wish it was that" Anna said as bats flew in. "Oh bats, he found bats, good work boy, bats are exactly what we need right now" Walter said as Xander growled. 'Not those you moron! Up ahead!' Xander thought as he barked as he ran ahead of them as they followed. "What do you think happened to Ben? He's a strong swimmer, probably reached a sandy beach somewhere, palm trees, beautiful women, coconut cocktails, Jammy Bastard" Walter said as they found a large tomb and down below some pink magic barrier. "Whoa" Anna said. "What the hopping hobbes is that?" Walter asked as Anna noticed bats were flying away from it. "It's a magic barrier" Anna said. "It must be protecting something, like the way out, most likely" Walter said. "Let's get down there" Adam said as they headed for the stairs. "Well I'll tell you one thing, we haven't got this many people behind us, to end up dying in some forsake, far-off hole in the ground" Walter said as they walked down some stairs as they spotted a few skeletons. "Ugh" Anna said. "Wherever we are, we're not the only ones who got stuck in the damn place" Walter said as Anna approached the magic barrier and touched it to feel it was solid, "not the most encouraging sign in the world, is it? Still, they might have something useful on them why don't you two check the second lot over there?" "Sure" Adam said as he and Anna approached the skeletons with papers under them as Anna and Adam began to pick up and read each page. "These are notes" Anna said as Adam picked up a book and opened it. "I found something, a not 'it speaks to us still, Darkness incarnate, we know now we can never escape it'." "Ugh" Anna said shivering. "Well, that doesn't sound good" Walter said. "What the bloody hell does 'Darkness incarnate' mean?" Anna asked reading another page. "Hey I got something too, one of these poor sods left a journal, most of the pages have disintegrated but...well, you...you can still see plenty of weird symbols, it's mostly gobbledygook anyway" Walter said. "Really, I found notes speaking about Shadows and 'the children of darkness' what the hell does that mean?" Anna asked. "Listen to this nonsense 'luminous spirits of the sands, impart daybreak and gleam under a quiet moon' ha ha oh...what's that supposed to..." Walter said but didn't finish as the magic pink barrier vanished, "look at that! Can you believe I did that?" he laughed. "That was a spell, I bet there are more in these pages" Anna said as they looked down the stairs into the darkness. "Uhhh...it does look somewhat dark though maybe going down isn't such a good idea" Walter said. "It the only other way Walter the other way is block and..." Anna said as the barrier reformed above them, "our way back just closed on us." "Balls, well come on" Walter said as they travel down the stairs till they walked into a dark tomb as Xander whined and shook with fear. "It's okay boy, I'm a little scared too" Anna said. "You know how I said it looked 'somewhat dark'?" Walter asked. "Yeah?" Adam said. "Well, I'd like to amend that statement; were looking into utter, total, complete darkness" Walter said they then heard Xander bark as Anna saw he was not next to her and was coming down running from up ahead with a unlit torch in his mouth. "Oh, what've you got there boy? Ha! You little genius! Good boy" Walter said taking the torch. 'That's right you better appreciate it' Xander thought as Walter lit the torch. "Oh now, that's better" Walter said. "Wow this place is still creepy" Anna said. "So what do you think this place is?" Walter asked. "I have no idea" Adam said. "Temple of some sort?" Walter said. "Maybe, but I'm from a temple this place dose have a few similarities but not many" Anna said. "What could anyone possibly worship in here?" Walter said. "Cobwebs and siders" Anna said as they entered a large room and saw another pink barrier ahead. "Whoa! We're not going any further this way" Walter said as they looked down their bridgeless way. "Looks like a bridge, is that the mechanism to raise it on the other side?" Walter asked. "It looks like it" Anna said. "Isn't that handy, one of us will have to get across to use it, there must be some other way there" Walter said as they headed back and went down some stairs to reach a jump. "Look like we can land it" Anna said. "Here we go, you should be able to make it to the other side from here" Walter said as Anna and Adam jumped down and made their way to the other side as Anna and Adam reached the lever. "Okay be careful now, that thing's probably pretty stiff, and we don't want to make any more noise than we have to" Walter said Adam then grabbed the lever and pulled as he grunted as it unlocked the bridge as the area shook as several rocks feel from above as the bridge formed. "Yes...and quiet as stealthy mice, the adventurers forged on ahead" Walter said as they heard a hissing like noise. "What was that?" Anna said. "I know I have a tendency to be slightly paranoid, but did that sound like something friendly to you?" Walter said as Xander whined and Anna petted his head. "Not a chance" Adam said as they headed up some stairs to the pink barrier. "Now where have we seen that before? Stand back, Walter the Scholar will deal with this" Walter said. "Oh be my guest" Anna said. "Hmmm...with an increasing sense of trepidation admittedly 'Luminous sprits of the sands, inhale the restless gloaming'." Walter said as the barrier vanished, "there you go, what can I say? I have a knack for gibberish" he said as they walked in and the barrier closed behind them, "um, do you ever get the feeling somebody's playing games with us?" "All the time" Adam said. "Let's just be thankful and get through this place as quickly as we can" Walter said as they heard the hissing again as they walked down the hall. "The light you bring will die"The Crawler said. "Who said that?!" Walter said "The light inside you will die." "Who's there? Show yourself!" Walter yelled. "All that you are will die." Xander then growled as ahead of them in the darkness they saw glowing sets of eyes. "Oh this isn't good" Walter said "What the hell are those things?!" Anna yelled drawing her hammer as the Crawler laughed. "The children are here to play." "What are they?!" Walter yelled as Shadows began to attack each wielding a weapon. "Be corrosive, be pernicious, be diseased, be devoured." "There's too many of them!" Walter yelled as Anna and Adam destroyed each Shadow with their weapons. "Watch your flesh turn to black, watch your thoughts turn to black, watch your fates turn to black." "Keep fighting! We have to keep fighting!" Walter yelled. "How many of these damn things are there?!" Adam yelled. "Tissues tears, the tears burn, the burns blossom like dirty flower on their skin." "Where the hell is he?!" Anna yelled. "KILL! KILL!" "Inferno-Shock!" Adam yelled fished the rest as the attack stopped and the eyes just watched them. "You're tainted, the stain will never wash out, the sun will never shine upon you again, tainted broken little toys"The Crawler said as all the eyes vanished. "It's all right, we're all right, we...we just have to keep going, that's all, we're all ALL right" Walter said. "It's okay Xander" Anna said petting the scared dog as they saw glowing eyes coming their way. "More of those things!" Walter yelled swinging his flare as scared bats flew past them. "It's okay, it was just bats" Anna said. "Come on, Walter, just hold it together" Walter said as they continued forward as they saw bugs and rats running away as well as Xander began to growl. "That's what those books and notes meant those...things! Were the children those shadow monster!" Anna growled. "Meaning that voice must have been the Darkness incarnate" Adam said. "Damn this book and whoever wrote it, the bastards! Why didn't they tell us what was down here? 'Darkness incarnate' like we're supposed to know what that means" Walter said. "Walter please you need to calm down" Anna said. "It won't stop, it won't stop till it kills us" Walter said. "Walter! Calm down! We're going to get through this!" Anna yelled as they began to climb stairs as Walter stopped when the flare flickered. "Wait, I think we must be close to an exit, there's a cold breeze, can you feel it?" Walter asked. "Yes I can" Adam said as they headed up the stairs and heard the hissing. "There's that sound again, it's almost like..." Walter said as they walked in front of a tunnel as a power gust of cold wind blew out the torch blinding the heroes, "no! Not the light! Not the blood light!" "Walter relight!" Anna said as she felt Adam take her hand. "We're going to be okay" Adam said as they saw Walter began to make sparks in attempt to relight the torch. "Come on work dammit! Those things are all around us! Come on, come on, come on!" Walter yelled as he relit the torch and picked up the torch as he turned around as they all saw the Crawler staring Walter in the face as Walter gasped as it hissed as he swung his flare as it vanished, "balls." "What the hell was that thing!" Anna yelled. "No, no, no, no, no...no, no, we have to get out of here, you two hear me? You hear me? We have to get out of here! As long as we have fire we'll be all right, we'll have to keep walking and we'll get out of here and we'll be all right" "We are coming!" "It's here!" Walter yelled. "We will devour your kingdom!" The Crawler said as they reached a room with a black like tar on the ground in some spots leaking darkness as they began to see the children eyes as they saw the Crawler ahead of them "there will be no bargain, there will be only darkness." "Leave us alone!" Walter yelled as Anna and Adam fired at the Crawler as it vanished. "The children command it!"The Crawler growled as the Shadow Children began to attack. "Get away from us!" Anna yelled swinging her hammer. "They're everywhere! More Shadows! Get ready!" Walter yelled. "Inferno-Force Push!" Adam yelled hitting all the Shadows with the spell. "It doesn't matter if you leave, we're inside you, your hearts, your lungs, and your thoughts will all be blackened!" "Ya!" Adam yelled swinging his sword as Anna began firing at the Shadows. "Watch as your skin withers and falls leaving you exposed and hollow." "Keep fighting!" Adam yelled charging for another spell. "Now do you realize how worthless you are? How much you've earned the shadows?" "Ya!" Adam yelled using the spell to end the attack. "Did the blind seer not tell you about us?" "Theresa?" Walter said. "Did she not warn you?" The Crawler said as he laughed. "QUIET!" Walter yelled throwing the torch as it hit the Crawler as it caught on fire and screed as it began to dissolve. "It's gone, the bastard's dead and gone and we're getting out of here" Walter said as they began to leave as they saw light ahead. "The exit getting closer" Anna said. "I'm sorry, I lost my head back there, I know, I've never liked caves, but this...it's as if someone took my worst nightmare and made it real but it's gone and we're going to be fine" Walter said as they reached a jump. "Looks like the only way is down, goody" Walter said bitterly. "You okay Walter?" Anna asked. "Ah, right, wait...just wait, I'll need a moment to prepare myself for this, but don't let me stop you" Walter said. "Okay" Adam said as Anna jumped and Adam followed and Xander jumped and Anna caught his and set him down. "You alright down there?" Walter asked. "Yes, it isn't far down" Adam said. "Right, here I come then, three...two...one..." Walter said about to jump as he heard something and looked back as down below Anna and Adam heard Walter scream. "WALTER!" Adam yelled. "WALTER! LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Anna yelled as they heard the Crawler laughing as darkness began to leaking down from above and Adam and Anna began to back away with Xander growling as they began to run down the path. "You let him die, you let us take him but you're glade, are you not?" "Shut up!" Anna yelled. "You wished him pain, you wish him undone, unthreaded, unloving." "That's a lie!" Adam yelled as Shadow began to form. "They're coming!" Anna yelled as they fought off a few shadows as the attacks stopped as Adam and Anna made their way through ruins as darks spat out into the air likes a geyser. "A great wave of darkness will cover your land, they will come for your king, who would sit upon the throne of Albion?" the Crawler said. "Do these things ever give up!" Anna yelled as they fought more Shadows. "Accept death now, it is so much easier than what is to come." "Never! I don't plan to die in a place like this!" Adam yelled as they fought off more of the shadows. "He bleeds light and fades away, you should see it, it's a beautiful sight." "Leave Walter alone!" Anna yelled as they finished off the last of the Shadows and ran deeper into the tomb. "But you too wish for the black void, you tire of your travels, your burdens, the cries of the helpless, the cries of your dead, you too will be swallowed, you are a fragile thing, you and your kind dissolve so easily." "Does that guy ever shut up!" Anna yelled. "What happens to this piece of flesh when darkness touches its soul?" "Anna come on!" Adam said finishing off the last shadow as they entered a large room as ahead they saw Walter with darkness all around him. "WALTER!" Adam yelled. "WALTER! Oh god! What are they doing to him!" Anna yelled as they ran up to Walter with the darkness floating up and covering Walter who was coughing. "We got to get it off him!" Adam yelled as they heard something and turned around to see the Crawler. "You let him!" Anna yelled swinging her hammer as the Crawler vanished. "We have waited centuries for you, you see now the future that awaits you, all those people you want to save, the people you want to control, they will shrivel as your friend has they will be food for the children, they are still so hungry, so very hungry" the Crawler said as darkness shot out from the ground as the Shadows began to flood into the room. "Look out!" Anna yelled as they dodged a dark puddle that tried to hit them. "You can never escape darkness, it flocks to you always." "Shock-Vortex!" Adam yelled hitting the ground with the spell. "Watch us fly into your heart, death beats its wings for you, we vomit forth the night!" "AH!" Anna yelled slamming her hammer down onto a shadow and began shooting others around her as a black dark puddle began to grow in the center of the room as purple wisps flew out and began going into massive bird statues making them move. "The children hide in their shells, they have bodies now, bodies can tear you asunder!" "You got to be kidding me!" Adam growled. "Feel the embrace of the children, they bring you eternal contentment." "Never!" Anna yelled smashing one of the statues. "The yes are gone forever! You feed us! You feed us!" "Force Push-Ice Storm!" Adam yelled using a very powerful spell to finish off the statues as the Crawler growled. "You've brought hurt! The children are angry!" The Crawler yelled as the darkness dropped Walter as the darkness on him began to move towards one of the larger statues, "the dark guardian shall come and protect us and all that is flesh and light shall die!" The statue then moved as it had glowing red eyes as the Sentinel swung its weapon at them as Adam and Anna dodged. Adam and Anna then began shooting at its back as it pointed it's staff at them shooting darkness as a black dark puddled formed under their feet as they quickly moved as a blast almost hit them. "Inferno-Force Push!" Adam yelled hitting the Sentinel with the powerful spell making it take a few steps back as Anna slammed her hammer into its face shattering it as it fell over and Adam and Anna panted. "This land is ours! Darkness shall spread across the world!" "Walter!" Adam yelled as he and Anna ran up to him. "Walter are you okay?" Anna asked. "I can't see, that thing...it blinded me, I can't see!" Walter yelled. "It's okay Walter we're here" Adam said as Anna and him helped Walter up. "Oh god" Anna said touching the black gook covering Walter eyes. "We have to get out, quickly!" Walter said as they heard the Crawler hiss, "it's still out there, we need to leave!" "Come on!" Anna said as she and Adam began to help Walter out of the room as the hisses continued. "Oh damn that thing!" Adam growled. "You can hear it too, can't you? It is there, I'm not mad" Walter said. "Yeah we can but we don't know where the bloody thing is!" Anna growled. "Anna look!" Adam said as they saw light ahead. "That has to be our exit! Hold on Walter were almost out of this damn place!" Anna said. "I can't see anything, take me to the light, please!" Walter said. "We're almost there!" Adam said as they almost reached the exit and heard the Crawler laugh. "Come on!" Anna said as they stepped out of the tomb and into the sun light.
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